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Day Six: Badminton - Li defeats Chongo Mulenga

Tue, 10 Apr 2018

Team Isle of Man's Benjamin Li beat Zambia in the Badminton Men's Single Preliminary match at the Carrara Sport and Leisure Centre on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old defeated Chongo Mulenga 21-10, 21-19.

Ben told Energy FM: "I just really wanted to win. When I played in Glasgow, I didn't win a match so that was my goal and that pressure. I really wanted to play well.

"I didn't know very much about Chongo and I watched him a bit in the team event. In the first few hits I was trying to get a sense of how he played. He's really strong and fast so I was trying to negate that."

On the difference between his performance his experience at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games: "I'm a lot more experienced now and I understand my own game a lot more, whereas before I just did whatever my opponent would do and now I play it my way."

On his preparation for GC2018: "My preparation has definitely changed. I recently took four months to train in Bath University, which has been really beneficial, their setup is amazing and has been really helpful for me.

"Being out in Australia, I've been here about four weeks now and the acclimatisation has really helped. If anything it feels too cold now rather than too hot. Having done that I don't need to worry about the climate I can just focus on my game."

On playing Lee Chong Wei (MAS) in the second round of the men's singles: "What an experience. When the draw comes out and you see that, you've got to admit it's in the back of your mind.

"That'll be a great experience. I've got nothing to lose and I'm just enjoying it now. I'll be able to focus on my shots."

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